EEV.  MR.  McLEAN'S  SERMON, 


DELIVERED  OX  THE 


APEIL  BO,  18  63 


[ 

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SERMON, 

I>ELIYEEED   OX  THE 

NATIONAL    FAST  DAY, 

AT 

FRAMINGHAM,  MASS. 

APRIL  30,  1863, 
BY 

REV.  JOHN   KNOX  McLEAN. 


|.)  u  b  I  i  s  Ij  c  b:  b  n  |l  c  q  u  c  s  t . 


BOSTON: 

PRESS  OF  T.  R.  MAR^^N  &  SOX,  42  CONGRESS  STREET. 

1  8  6  3. 


SERMON. 


1  COHINTHIANS  x.  10. 

NEITHER    MURMUR    YE,    AS    SOME    OF    THEM    ALSO    MURMURED,    AXB    TVERE  DE- 
STROYED  OE   THE  DESTROYER. 

This  is  part  of  an  admonitory  address  made  by  Saint  Paul  to 
the  Christian  disciples  resident  at  Corinth.  The  address  con- 
tains allusions  to  the  early  history  of  the  Jews,  from  whom 
some,  at  least,  of  these  Corinthian  disciples  were  descended. 
In  admonishing,  he  bids  them  take  warning  by  the  disastrous 
experience  of  their  fathers,  and  shun  their  fathers'  sins. 

The  particular  allusion  in  this  verse  is  to  an  event  recorded, 
Numbers,  xiv.  2 :  '  And  all  the  children  of  Israel  mm-mured 
against  Moses  and  against  Aaron ;  and  the  whole  congregation 
said  unto  them,  Would  God  we  had  died  in  the  land  of  Egypt ! 
or  would  God  we  had  died  in  the  wilderness ! '  Yerses  11,  12  : 
'  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  How  long  will  this  people  pro- 
voke me  ?  and  how  long  will  it  be  ere  they  believe  me,  for  all 
the  signs  which  I  have  shown  among  them  ?  \  will  smite 
them  with  the  pestilence,'  &c.  Yerses  27,  29  :  '  How  long  shall 
I  bear  with  this  evil  congregation,  which  murmur  against  me  ? 
— Your  carcasses  shall  fall  in  this  wilderness.' 

Or  the  allusion  may  be  to  the  event  recorded,  Numbers,  xvi  : 
the  rebellion  of  Korah,  and  the  subsequent  murmuring  of  the 
people,  in  consequence  of  which  fourteen  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred were  destroyed  by  the  plague.  In  both  cases,  the  offense 
was  the  same  and  the  punishment  the  same.  The  offense  — 
murmuring  against  God.  The  punishment — utter  destruction 
from  his  presence. 

This  must  be  a  most  heinous  sin  in  Jehovah's  sight,  since  it 
was  visited  with  punishment  so  swift  and  so  terrible  !  Many 


4 


sins  before  this  had  the  Jews  sinned,  which  he  wjnked  at ; 
many  transgressions  had  they  committed,  and  still  lived  ;  many 
omissions  had  they  been  guilty  of;  still  he  fed  them  and  led 
them.  But  when,  under  most  aggravating  circumstances,  they 
became  rebellious,  Jehovah's  wrath,  so  slow  to  wake,  was  fully 
aroused.  And  in.  his  wrath  he  sware  that,  because,  having 
seen  his  glory,  and  his  miracles  which  he  did  in  Egypt  and  in 
the  wilderness,  they  yet  tempted  him,  murmured  against  him, 
and  would  not  hearken  to  his  voice,  they  should  not  see  the 
promised  land,  nor  enter  into  his  rest.  And  not  even  the  inter- 
cession of  Moses,  whose  prayer  had  so  often  averted  impend- 
ing evil,  could  novv^  avail  ;  but  the  destroyer  was  let  loose  upon 
them. 

Brethren,  I  greatly  fear  that  we,  of  the  loyal  States  of  this 
Union,  are  upon  the  verge  of  committing  this  same  fearful  sin. 
I  fear  that  we  are  almost,  if  not  actually,  murmuring  against 
the  Lord  our  God  for  his  dealings  with  us  as  a  nation  ;  and 
that  in  view  of  his  great  goodness  and  long-suffering  and 
mercy  towards  us !  And  upon  this  day,  appointed  by  our 
supreme  magistrate  as  a  day  of  national  humiliation,  do  I  desire 
to  lift  up  my  voice,  with  all  the  earnestness  of  which  I  am 
capable,  in  warning  against  this  offense.  The  single  admo- 
nition from  this  desk  to-day  shall  be  :  Neither  murmur  ye,  as 
some  of  them  also  murmured,^^  lest  a  like  calamity  befall  you, 
and  you  also  be  "  destroyed  of  the  destroyer." 

1,  What  is  it  to  murmur  ?  Webster  says  it  is  to  grumble, 
to  complain,  to  utter  sullen  discontent  ; "  and  his  definition  is 
sufficiently  complete  for  all  practical  purposes.  The  Israelites 
grumbled  —  they  complained  —  they  uttered  sullen  discontent ; 
and  God  destroyed  them  for  it.  Grumbling,  complaining,  utter- 
ing sullen  discontent  is,  therefore,  offensive  in  his  sight.  It 
renders  them  who  indulge  in  it,  liable  to  sure  and  swift  destruc- 
tion. 

The  thing  in  itself  is  an  offense.  But  in  the  case  of  the 
Jews,  it  was  peculiarly  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  they 
grumbled  and  complained  causelessly  ;  and  not  only  causelessly, 
but  in  the  midst  of  many  signal  mercies,  and  despite  many 
and  great  reasons  for  gratitude  and  thankfulness.  They  had 
witnessed  many  miracles  and  wondrous  displays  of  God's  glory. 


5 


They  had  seen  all  the  plagues  brought  upon  the  Egyptians, 
while  into  their  own  coasts  came  nothing  of  the  kind.  God 
had  brought  them  out  from  under  the  power  of  the  oppressor  : 
their  yoke  he  had  broken.  At  the  Red  Sea  he  had  delivered 
them  from  Pharaoh  and  his  host,  turning  their  powerful  enemies 
to  destruction.  The  Lord  had  gone  before  them  as  a  pillar  of 
cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night.  He  had  miraculously  fed 
them  during  the  journey,  and  brought  forth  drink  for  them  out 
of  the  rock.  Every  act  of  goodness  had  he  performed  for 
them  ;  every  obligation  to  love  and  gratitude  laid  upon  them. 
But  all  this  they  forgot ;  and  murmured  against  their  leaders,  by 
him  appointed,  and  against  him.  Notwithstanding  his  tender 
mercy  and  his  loving-kindness,  they  grumbled  and  uttered 
sullen  discontent. 

And  this  is  precisely  what  we  as  a  nation  are  beginning  to 
do,  if  I  mistake  not ;  and  that  with  no  less  aggravation,  in  our 
case,  than  existed  in  theirs. 

Is  this  a  factj  is  the  charge  true,  that  we,  under  God's 
disciplining  hand,  are  becoming  murmurous?  Look  at  the 
facts  in  the  case,  and  judge  for  yourselves.  What  do  we  hear 
men  saying  every  day ;  what  do  we  say  every  day  ;  and  what 
do  Ave  read  in  the  newspapers  continually?  Why,  we  hear 
men  finding  fault.  We  hear  them  grumbling.  We  find  fault, 
we  grumble  ;  and  our  daily  journals  are  gorged  with  fault- 
finding and  grumbling.  We  complain  of  the  hard  times ;  we 
groan  over  the  high  prices;  we  cry  out,  in  anguish  of  soul, 
under  the  heavy  taxes.  We  shake  our  heads  wisely,  ominously  ; 
we  say,  "  We  hope  Ave  shall  come  out  of  this  Avar  all  right, 
but — ."  And  Avith  a  dismal  sigh,  Ave  cease — as  much  as  to 
say,  A¥e  doubt  more  than  we  hope  ;  and  fear  more  than  Ave  do 
either.  Noav,  brethren,  I  say  this  is  murmuring  !  I  say  this  is 
that  for  which  God  destroys  men  ! 

Again  :  we  grumble  against  the  Government.  We  find  fault 
Avith  the  measures  they  adopt,  and  complain  that  other  measures 
are  not  substituted.  We  have  a  great  deal  to  say  about  the 
imbecility,"  the  "  weakness,"  the  "  folly  "  of  our  rulers  and 
generals.  We  become  despondent  at  every  check  our  arms 
experience,  and  are  in  despair  at  every  temporary  reverse.  We 


6 


are  totally  dissatisfied  with  anything  less  than  a  victory  a  day  ; 
and  at  times  are  even  forward  to  broach  our  belief  that  ^'  God 
is  on  the  side  of  the  rebels  in  this  war,  after  all !  " 

I  might  extend  thgse  specifications,  but  presume  it  is  un- 
necessary. You  will  bear  me  witness  that  all  this  we  do,  and 
much  more  of  the  same  sort. 

3.  You  will  admit  the  fact  that  we  do  so ;  but  perhaps  you 
will  say,  "We  have  good  reason  for  all  this,  and  even  more. 
There  is  just  ground  for  complaint  and  fault-finding.  And, 
that  being  so,  we  are  not  aware  that  the  speaking  of  things  as 
they  are,  is  any  so  great  offense  in  the  sight  of  God."  Where- 
fore it  shall  be  my  aim  to  show,  in  the  next  place,  that  the 
spirit  which  gives  rise  to  such  remarks  and  feelings,  is  essen- 
tially a  murmuring  spirit — the  same  spirit  the  Israelites  evinced  ,• 
and  that  the  remarks  themselves  are  essentially  the  same  utter- 
ances of  sullen  discontent,  and  our  conduct  the  same  perverse 
conduct,  which,  in  the  Jews'  case,  v/ere  so  terribly  punished 
by  Jehovah. 

In  order  that  we  may  institute  a  fair  comparison  between  our 
present  national  spirit  and  conduct,  and  that  of  the  Jews,  let  us 
glance  at  those  events  in  their  history  to  which  the  language  of 
our  text  refers. 

They  had  come  to  Kadesh-barnea,  a  place  just  on  the  border 
of  Canaan.  Halting  there,  Moses  exhorted  the  people  to  go  up 
immediately  and  possess  the  land  which  lay  before  them  ;  bid- 
ding them  not  to  be  afraid  or  discouraged  ;  for  the  Lord  should 
certainly  go  up  with  them.  But  the  whole  of  the  people  united 
in  a  petition  that  men  should  be  sent  up,  in  the  first  place,  to 
search  out  the  land,  and  bring  them  word  by  what  way  they 
must  go  up,  and  to  what  cities  first  come.  This  proposal  was 
readily  acceded  to  by  Moses,  and  men  were  sent  up  to  spy  out 
the  land  and  see  what  it  is ;  and  the  people  that  dwell  therein, 
whether  they  be  weak  or  strong,  few  or  many ;  and  what  sort 
of  a  land  they  inhabit,  &c.,  &c. ;  and,  finally,  to  bring  back 
with  them  some  of  the  fruits  of  the  land. 

Having  spent  forty  days  in  the  exploration,  the  men  returned 
and  reported.  They  all  united  in  testifying  that  the  country 
was  exceeding  goodj  "  a  land  flowing  in  milk  and  honey." 


7 


Nevertheless,  the  majority  said,  The  peoyle  be  strong  that 
dwell  in  the  land;  and  the  cities  are  walled  and  very  great." 
Above  all,  they  said,  "  We  saw  the  children  of  Anak  there  !  " 

This  report  of  the  majority  of  the  spies  intimidated  the 
people,  and  excited  a  commotion  in  the  camp.  Joshua  and 
Caleb  endeavored  to  compose  and  encourage  the  tribes,  assuring 
them  that  they  were  well  able  to  conquer  the  land.  But  the 
others  said,  We  be  not  able  to  go  up  against  the  people ;  for 
they  are  stronger  than  we ;  they  are  giants,  and  beside  them 
we  are  like  grasshoppers. 

And  now  they  became  more  and  more  agitated.  The  whole 
congregation  lifted  up  their  voice  and  cried ;  and  the  people 
wept  all  that  night.  And  all  the  people  murmured  against 
Moses  and  against  Aaron,  and  said,  Would  God  that  we  had 
died  in  the  land  of  Egypt ;  or  would  God  we  had  died  in 
this  wilderness !  And  wherefore  has  the  Lord  brought  us 
into  this  land,  to  fall  by  the  sword  ?  Were  it  not  better  for 
us  to  return  into  Egypt  ?  And  the^^-  said  one  to  another,  Let  us 
make  a  captain,  and  let  us  return  to  Egypt.  Yainly  did  Caleb 
and  Joshua  seek  to  stay  this  mad  current ;  they  were  unable. 
Indeed,  it  was  only  by  a  supernatural  interference  that  they 
escaped  death  by  stoning. 

But  now,  in  the  height  of  the  revolt,  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
appeared  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation.  And  the 
Lord  said  unto  Moses,  How  long  ivill  this  people  provoke  me ; 
and  hoiv  long  ivill  it  be  ere  they  believe  me,  for  all  the  sig7is  ivhich 
I  have  showed  them  1  I  luill  smite  them  with  pestilence  and  ivill 
disinherit  them.  And  to  the  people  he  says,  Your  carcasses  shall 
fall  in  the  loilderness.  All  of  you,  from  twenty  years  and  up- 
loards,  that  have  murmured  against  me,  ye  shall  not  come  into  the 
land  concerning  ivhich  I  sivare  to  maJce  you  dwell  therein.  *  *  In 
this  ivUderness  shall  they  be  consumed,  and  there  shall  they  die  ! 
And  the  Lord's  word  was  fulfilled  ;  their  carcasses  strewed  the 
wilderness.* 

Now  the  offense  of  the  Jews  here  consisted,  essentially,  first, 
in  undue  despondency  in  view  of  the  estimated  dangers  of  their 
situation ;  secondly,  in  distrusting  God's  power  and  willingness 
to  deliver  them  and  give  them  the  victory  ;  thirdly,  in  grumbling 
at  the  hardships  of  their  situation,  and  both  directly  and  indi- 
rectly complaining  at  the  providence  of  God ;  and  fourthly,  in 


8 


resisting  the  authority  of  their  legitimate  leaders,  and  exalting 
their  own  measures  for  the  public  safety,  above  those  of  Moses 
and  his  associates. 

And  every  one  of  these  charges  can  he  sustained  as  against  the 
j)eople  of  the  loyal  States — as  against  us  here  assembled  to-day. 

(1.)  fVe  are  unduly  despondent  in  view  of  the  real  and  exagger- 
ated dangers  of  our  situation. 

Every  reverse,  however  insignificant,  sends  the  public  confi- 
dence down  like  lead.  The  gold  exchange  — as  good  an  index, 
I  suppose,  as  any  we  have  of  the  public  feeling  —  fluctuates 
daily  just  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  news  received.  "  But 
what  of  that?"  you  ask.  Just  this;  that  lye  have  no  right  or 
reason  for  allowing  ourselves  in  despondency  for  one  single  moment 
respecting  the  issue  of  this  struggle  !  Our  confidence  is  not  to 
rise  and  fall  with  the  stock  market.  For  suppose  "  the  people 
be  strong  ;  and  the  cities  walled  and  very  great,"  the  people  are 
arrayed  against  right,  against  truth,  against  freedom  ;  the  city 
walls  inclose  deep  wrong,  and  cruelty,  and  oppression  !  Sup- 
pose they  he  strong,  they  are  not  so  strong  as  tlie  Almighty. 
Suppose  the  cities  he  walled,  they  cannot  wall  Him  out! 
Suppose  the  children  of  Anak  do  dwell  there  —  and  the  inhabi- 
tants are  at  least  no  pigmy  race — righteousness  and  truth  do 
not  dwell  there  :  and  they  are  they  which,  under  the  God  of 
battles,  give  strength — and  not  sheer  might  and  muscle.  In 
such  a  war  as  this,  so  brought  on,  and  in  such  a  cause,  we  have 
no  right  to  be  despondent.  Our  confidence  is  not  to  be  based 
upon  reports  from  front  or  rear.  We  are  to  trust  in  God,  and 
place  in  Him  our  confidence.    Instead  of  which 

(2.)  We  are  distrusting  God's  power  and  willingness  to 
deliver  us  and  give  us  the  victory.  We  are  practically  ignor- 
ing God  in  this  whole  afi'air.  Said  a  neighboring  preacher, 
in  a  discourse  on  occasion  of  the  late  State  Fast :  Here 
I  think  I  have  touched  the  ground  of  all  that  impatience 
and  discontent,  of  that  contention  and  mutual  recrimination 
which  have  manifested  themselves  with  especial  vehemence 
within  the  last  few  months.  We  have  not  been  willing  to 
acknowledge  the  Almighty  in  this  war.  It  has  been  talked 
about,  its  causes  debated,  its  measures  criticised,  its  successes 
and  reverses  have  been  discussed  precisely  as  though  God  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it !  "    "  To  me,"  he  continues,  "  it  is  the 


9 


most  serious  aspect,  as  well  as  the  most  hopeful  augury  of  this 
fearful  conflict,  that  it  is  of  God's  ordaining  ;  that  it  came  upon 
us  when  the  fullness  of  the  time  was  come  ;  not  by  the  will  of 
man,  but  by  the  fiat  of  the  Almighty." 

With  these  sentiments  I  most  fully  agree,  as  well  as  with 
another  which  follows  :  This  is  a  struggle  between  universal 
principles  and  a  local  polity  ;  between  natural  justice  and  con- 
ventional wrong  ;  between  the  charity  which  would  lift  up  the 
degraded  and  instruct  the  ignorant — and  so  co-operate  with  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  his  ministry  of  redeeming  love — and  the 
self-interest  which  would  keep  them  in  degradation  and  shut 
out  all  light  from  their  minds.  In  such  a  controversy  as  this, 
I  must  believe  that  God  is  interested  ;  and  it  would  be  impious 
in  me  to  entertain  a  doubt  which  side  is  approved  by  Him."* 

This,  I  believe,  is  just.  To  throw  Jehovah  out  of  consider- 
ation, in  estimating  the  prospects  of  this  war,  is  gross  impiety ; 
to  doubt  his  willingness  to  stretch  forth  his  arm  in  our  behalf, 
in  such  a  cause,  is  that  same  "unbelief"  for  which  he  smote 
the  Jews  Avho  doubted  his  willingness  to  give  them  the  victory 
over  the  dwellers  in  the  land  of  Canaan. 

(3.)  J'Ve  are  allowing  ourselves  to  grumble  over  the  hardships 
and  evils  incide^it  to  our  situation ;  and  are  both  directly  and  in- 
directly complaining  at  the  allotments  of  God's  providence. 

All  this  scolding  about  '  taxes,'  this  groaning  over  the  '  hard 
times,'  this  intense  solicitude  concerning  the  rise  and  fall  of 
the  financial  barometer, — all  these  prognostications  of  'ruin,' 
commercial,  financial,  national  and  individual, — What  are  all 
these,  in  the  last  analysis,  but  grumblings  at  the  providence  of 
God,  who,  having  for  years  poured  blessings  so  lavishly  upon 
us,  now  sees  fit,  in  some  small  degree,  to  diminish  them  ?  What 
are  they,  disguise  them  as  we  may,  but  imputations  upon  his 
goodness — perverse  substitutes  for  that  gratitude  and  praise 
which  are  at  all  times  due  to  the  Almighty  Disposer  of  events  ? 

(4.)  We  are  practically  opposing  the  authority  of  our  legiti- 
mately constituted  rulers,  and  seeking  to  subvert  their  lawful 
authority. 

I  am  not  now  bringing  a  charge  against  any  particular  party, 
or  political  organization ;  but  against  the  people  at  large  of  the 
loyal  States.    I  do  not  say  they  are  consciously  hostile  to  the 


*  Dr.  Thompson,  Jamaica  Plain. 


10 


Government,  or  desirous,  willing  even,  to  see  it  overthrown ; 
but  do  we  not  unreservedly,  habitually,  express  our  lack  of  con- 
fidence in  the  Government  ?  Do  we  not  wish  it  were  in 
other  hands  ?  Do  we  not  loudly  complain  against  this  thing 
done,  and  that  left  undone  ?  Do  not  those  who  are  destitute  of 
the  faintest  notion  of  what  constitutes  a  government,  much 
more  of  what  is  needed  to  carry  on  its  ponderous  and  intricate 
machinery,  pass,  without  scruple,  the  most  sweeping  denuncia- 
tions upon  the  policy  of  statesmen,  and  the  conduct  of  cabinets  ? 
Do  not  men  who  would  be  incapable  of  bringing  a  corporal's 
guard  to  the  "  about  face,"  presume  to  criticise,  condemn  and 
rebuke  military  measures  and  the  plans  of  campaigns,  just  as 
though  they  themselves  were  the  embodiment  of  all  military 
genius,  or  the  tried  veterans  of  many  wars  ? 

Now  all  this  tends  directly  to  weaken  the  hands  of  govern- 
ment. These  croakings  are  not,  in  point  of  evil  influence,  very 
far  behind  those  of  the  Jews  at  Kadesh-barnea,  where  they 
said  :  Were  it  not  better  for  us  to  return  into  Egypt  ?  Let  us 
make  a  captain,  and  let  us  return  ! " 

I  do  not,  by  any  means,  wish  to  be  understood  as  saying  that 
we  are  bound  to  submit  to  whatever  our  rulers  may  impose 
upon  us,  in  silent,  meek  acquiescence  ;  that  we  are  to  believe 
all  their  measures  to  be  the  wisest,  best  and  most  efl'ective 
possible  :  or  that  we  are  never  to  presume  to  criticise  or  express 
a  dissenting  judgment.  What  I  mean  is,  that  in  such  a 
complicated  Government  as  ours,  in  such  an  unprecedented 
emergency  as  this,  it  is  utterly  impossible  but  that  mistakes 
should  be  made  ;  and  it  is  not  wrong  for  those  who  are  capable 
of  doing  it,  to  criticise  these,  openly  and  fully.  But  this 
should  be  done  fairly  ;  it  should  be  done  intelligently ;  it 
should,  above  all,  be  done  charitably ;  keeping  in  mind  the  vast 
difference  there  is  between  sitting,  coolly,  safely,  at  a  distance, 
and  watching  the  progress  of  events,  with  nothing  to  do  but 
watch  ;  and  plunging  into  the  thick  fray,  and  ourselves  shaping 
events  there,  amid  the  turmoil  and  confusion,  the  heat  and  dust 
and  smoke  and  blood  of  actual  conflict.  We  may  judge  our 
public  men  and  their  measures ;  but  we  should,  in  doing  it, 
use  that  same  charity  the  gospel  enjoins  upon  us  to  exercise 
towards  our  neighbor.  But  for  the  people  to  give  themselves 
up  to  indiscriminate,  querulous,  discontented  complaint — that 


11 


is  a  wrong  and  a  sin.  The  same  wrong  and  sin,  to-day,  as  it 
was  in  the  day  of  Moses  and  Joshua  and  Caleb.  Such  conduct, 
at  the  best  of  times,  is  folly,  is  sinful.  At  this  time,  it  is  more  ; 
it  is  a  most  grievous  sin,  next  door  to  open  treason  ! 

4.  By  comparison  of  our  present  condition  and  conduct  with 
those  of  the  Jews,  at  the  time  the  Lord  denounced  such  mighty 
judgments  against  them  for  murmuring,  we  have  found,  in  the 
actual  facts  of  the  two  cases,  an  agreement  only  too  close  and 
striking.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether,  in  their  case,  there 
were  any  peculiar  aggravations  of  offense  which  do  not  exist 
in  our  own  case  as  welL  In  other  words,  is  there  any  reason 
to  suppose,  if  our  conduct  be  like  theirs,  that  we  are  not  liable 
to  a  judgment  like  that  sent  upon  them  ? 

I  have  said  they  murmured  without  cause  —  even  worse  than 
that — in  the  face  of  many  and  great  mercies.  Their  grumbling 
and  complaining  took  the  place  of  deserved  gratitude  and 
thanksgiving.  This  was  the  peculiar  aggravation  of  their  sin. 
The  Lord  said,  when  he  came  down  in  his  anger  :  How  long 
will  it  be  ere  they  believe  me,  for  all  the  signs  which  I  have 
showed  among  them?'''  And  in  denouncing  judgment,  he  said  : 
"  Because  all  those  men  which  have  seen  my  glory,  and  my 
miracles,  .  .  .  have  tempted  me,"  &c.  :  Surely  they  shall  not 
see  the  land."  Their  murmuring  in  the  face  of  his  glory  and 
his  miracles,  added  greatly  to  the  magnitude  of  their  offense. 
Their  refusal  to  believe,  after  all  the  signs  he  had  showed  among 
them,  was  the  gravamen  of  the  charge  against  them. 

How  is  it  with  us  in  this  regard :  are  we  sinning  in  face  of 
any  less  striking  displays  of  divine  goodness  and  glory  ? 

I  need  not  point  you  to  the  divine  beneficence  towards  this 
land  in  past  days.  I  need  not  tell  you  how  a  little,  forlorn 
band  of  persecuted  men  came  to  these  shores,  somewhat  more 
than  two  centuries  ago,  through  frost  and  storm  and  peril ;  and 
how  God  has  raised  up  from  them  a  nation,  great,  enlightened, 
free  and  happy,  as  any  the  sun  ever  shone  upon.  I  need  not 
recount  the  privileges  he  has  given  us,  more  and  richer  than  to 
any  other  people  :  nor  the  blessings,  civil,  religious,  social,  he 
has  lavished  upon  us.    All  this  3^ou  know. 

Now,  tell  me  what  miracle  had  God  ever  wrought,  or  what 
exhibition  of  his  glory  had  he  ever  made  to  Israel,  up  to  the 


12 


time  he  sent  Moses  to  be  their  dehverer,  which  can  at  all  com- 
pare with  his  doings  in  our  past  history.  He  had  led  them  in 
Jacob's  day,  about  four  hundred  years  before,  down  into  Egypt ; 
and  most  of  the  time  since,  they  had  been  held  in  close  and 
cruel  bondage.  No  people  ever  suffered  more  than  Israel  did, 
while  under  the  Egyptian  yoke.  Now^  indeed,  he  had  delivered 
them  from  bondage.  But  what  was  that  compared  with  his 
dealings  with  us  for  the  last  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  ? 
They  were  delivered  out  of  bondage ;  we  have  been  'kept  out  of 
bondage.  They  stood  with  the  marks  of  their  servitude  upon 
them  ;  degraded,  ignorant  for  the  most  part,  and  poor.  We  stand 
in  the  glorious  heritage  of  freedom  —  elevated,  enlightened, 
with  whatever  advantages  flow  from  long-continued  peace, 
together  with  all  that  science,  art  and  commerce  can  impart. 
Was  God's  goodness  to  them  comparable  with  that  we  have 
experienced  ? 

Or,  to  bring  the  comparison  down  to  the  time  of  this  revolt  at 
Kadesh-barnea, — What  was  there  in  the  Lord's  dealings  with 
the  Jews,  during  the  exodus,  that  is  to  be  compared,  in  point  of 
mercy  and  goodness,  with  his  gracious  dealings  with  this 
nation,  from  the  outbreak  of  this  war,  down  to  the  present 
moment  ? 

It  was  now  about  a  year  since  they  had  left  Raamses,  their 
former  residence  in  Egypt ;  and  during  this  time  it  was,  together 
with  the  period  during  which  Moses  was  pleading  with  Pha- 
raoh for  their  release,  that  those  special  manifestations  of  glory 
and  power  had  been  made  on  their  behalf.  The  Lord  had 
brought  plagues  upon  the  Egyptians,  and  spared  Israel.  But 
what  plague  has  he  brought  upon  us,  either  immediately  pre- 
ceding, or  during  our  national  exodus  ?  Have  not  the  years 
preceding  and  during  this  war  been,  throughout  the  whole 
North,  years  of  unwonted  freedom  from  pestilence,  or  drought, 
or  anything,  in  fact,  noxious  to  either  man,  or  beast,  or  plant? 
Have  not  our  garners  been  full,  affording  all  manner  of  store  ; 
have  not  our  sheep  brought  forth  thousands  and  ten  thousands 
in  our  streets?  Have  not  our  oxen  been  strong  to  labor  ;  has 
there  been  any  breaking  in  or  going  out,  or  any  complaining  in 
our  streets  ?  No  :  nor  does  it  at  all  lessen  the  magnitude  of  this 
mercy,  that  the  Lord  has  not  afflicted  our  enemies  as  he  did 
Israel's.    For  our  position  towards  our  enemies  is  far  different 


13 


from  that  of  Israel  towards  theirs.  They  were  a  feeble  folk, 
seeking  to  throw  off  the  heavy  yoke.  We  are  a  great  people 
and  a  strong,  seeking  to  quell  a  rebellion  which,  although 
mighty,  is  of  greatly  less  magnitude  than  the  power  we  have 
to  oppose  it  with.  We  do  not,  therefore,  need  such  special 
interpositions  of  Divine  Providence  against  our  foes  as  God 
gave  Israel  against  Pharaoh.  And  it  exalts  God's  mercy  and 
goodness  towards  us,  that  he  has  saved  us  from  this  necessity. 
In  so  far  has  he,  in  this  respect,  favored  us  above  his  ancient 
people. 

The  Lord  overwhelmed  Pharaoh  and  his  host  in  the  sea  for 
them.  But  is  it  a  less  mercy  he  has  shown  to  us,  in  that  in  the 
the  outbreak  of  this  war  he  saved  for  us,  once  and  again,  our 
national  Capital,  when  a  mere  handful  of  men  might  so  easily 
have  taken  it  ?  Do  we  see  his  hand  any  less  clearly  in  our 
case  than  in  theirs,  in  that  when  an  iron-clad  monster  came 
suddenly  upon  our  defenceless  shipping,  and  was  making  all 
havoc  at  its  will,  the  little  Monitor  should,  just  in  the  nick 
of  time,  and  in  a  manner  purely  providential,  arrive  on  the 
scene  of  action  and  send  the  monster  quailing  to  his  den,  in- 
spired with  a  fear  which  led  him  a  few  days  after  to  deliberate 
self-destruction  ? 

The  falling  olf  of  Pharaoh's  chariot-wheels,  was  no  more  a 
divine  interposition  than  was  the  keeping  back  of  our  rapacious 
foe  from  our  defenseless  Capital.  Pharaoh's  engulfment  in  the 
Red  Sea,  was  no  more  unexpected  to  him,  than  was  the  meet- 
ing of  a  Monitor  in  Hampton  Roads  to  the  Merrimac  nor  was 
that  overthrow  more  clearly  of  God  than  was  this. 

The  Lord  miraculously  fed  the  Jews  during  their  sojourn ; 
bringing  for  them  the  flocks  of  quails,  and  sending,  morning  by 
morning,  the  manna.  But  does  this  equal  his  goodness  to  us 
during  this  war  ?  What  good  thing  have  we  lacked,  either  to 
eat  or  to  drink  or  to  put  on  ?  What  necessary  article  of  common 
use,  what  luxury,  indeed,  has  this  war  taken  from  us?  Not 
one.  And  yet  we  grumble  and  complain  of  hard  times !  Sup- 
pose we  were  compelled  to  give  up  these  pleasant  homes  of 
ours,  and  our  usual  avocations,  and  spend  our  days  tramping 
through  the  wilderness  —  our  nights  upon  the  unsheltered  > 
ground — we  and  our  little  ones ;  or  under  such  booths  as,  after 
long  days'  marches,  we  could  erect; — suppose  we  were  driven 


14 


from  our  present  style  of  living,  and  made  dependent  upon  such 
wild  game  as  we  might  chance  to  find,  or  upon  such  a  diet  as  we 
could  scrape  from  the  ground,  with  the  hoar  frost  of  the  morn- 
ing—  then  shouldn't  we  complain?  Then  shouldn't  we  have 
something  to  say  about  '  hard  times  ? '  Should  we  not  grum- 
ble, and  should  we  not  conclude  we  had  some  good  ground 
for  grumbling  ?  But  complaint,  even  under  such  circumstanceSj 
would  be  wrong  ;  it  would  be  an  olfense  against  God  ;  it  would 
be  the  thing  for  which  he  destroyed  the  Jews.  Then  how 
much  more  aggravated  must  our  sin  be,  in  murmuring,  as  we 
do,  in  the  midst  of  God's  abounding  goodness  and  mercy 
towards  us ! 

And  so,  did  our  time  allow  us  to  extend  the  comparison, 
should  we  find  it  to  be  in  every  particular.  Where  the  Jews 
had  one  mercy,  we  have  a  thousand ;  where  they  had  but 
crumbs  of  divine  bounty,  we  have  whole  loaves,  and  hundreds 
of  them.  Then,  every  aggravation  of  offense,  in  their  case, 
must  exist  in  still  greater  measure  in  our  own.  We  have  even 
less  right  or  reason  to  murmur  than  they  had  ;  wherefore  if  God 
destroyed  them  for  murmuring,  how  fearful  must  our  danger 
be,  in  committing  the  same  sin ! 

5.  Comparatively,  then  —  i.  e.  as  compared  with  the  Jews 
when  they  were  at  Kadesh-barnea  —  we  have  clearly  no -reason 
to  grumble,  nor  to  complain  at  God's  dealings  with  us,  even 
in  this  time  of  sore  trial  and  affliction.  In  concluding  these 
somewhat  protracted  remarks,  I  go  further  than  that,  and 
insist  that  we  have  absolutely  no  ground,  either  for  complaint 
or  for  despondency ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  every  reason  for 
devout  thanksgiving  and  confident  hope. 

(1.)  And,  first,  let  me  remind  you  of  Job's  reply  to  his  wife, 
when,  in  the  depth  of  his  afiliction,  she  bade  him  curse  God 
and  die.  ''What!"  he  indignantly  exclaims,  "shall  we  re- 
ceive good  at  the  hand  of  God,  and  shall  we  not  also  receive 
evil  ? " 

We  must  not  forget  that  the  Almighty  is  under  no  obligation 
to  us.  He  would  violate  no  claim  of  ours  upon  him,  were  he 
never  to  permit  us  to  see  any  good.  Whatever  we  receive  is 
purely  of  grace,  and  not  of  debt.  This  being  so,  and  he  hav- 
ing so  richly  lavished  his  choicest  blessings  upon  us  for  a  long 


15 


period,  is  it  becoming,  is  it  manly,  for  us  to  straightway  fall  to 
whining,  when  it  pleases  him  to  mingle  some  bitter  in  our  cup? 
Contentment,  with  a  lap  full^  is  no  great  virtue.  It  is  but  little 
to  our  credit  that  we  can  refrain  from  murmuring  and  complaint, 
when  we  have  more  than  we  can  by  any  possibility  use.  And 
that  is  but  a  poor  manliness  which,  after  a  long  experience  of 
unmingled  prosperity,  flies  into  complaint  or  into  despondency, 
when  but  some  of  the  redundancies  of  the  divine  bounty  are 
stricken  off. 

(2.)  Secondly,  we  must  remember  that  we  have  by  our  sins 
forfeited,  many  times  over,  any  claim  to  God's  mercies  we 
might  ever  have  had.  Should  he  deal  with  us  in  justice,  our 
condition  would  be  unspeakably  worse  than  it  now  is.  If  men 
will  sow  evil  seed,  it  ill  becomes  them  to  grumble  that  the  har- 
vest is  of  like  kind. 

(3.)  We  must  remember,  also,  that  seeming  evil  is,  very  many 
times,  in  reality  the  highest  good.  Those  are  by  no  means  our 
truest  blessings,  which  appear  so  to  us ;  but  our  best  blessings 
come  to  us  in  disguise.  Affliction  is  often  a  truer  good  'than 
gross  prosperity.  The  parents  who  act  with  truest  wisdom 
towards  their  children,  are  not  those  Avho  cram  them  with  cakes 
and  candies,  indulging  every  childish  whim ;  but  those  who 
apply,  when  needed,  the  rod  of  correction.  God  is  a  wise 
parent.  He  is  indulgent ;  but  he  does  not  allow  any  foolish 
fondness  to  blind  him  to  the  true  welfare  of  his  children.  His 
correcting  rod  is  oftener  a  nation's  true  blessing,  than  is  a  many 
years'  continuance  of  unbroken  peace  and  prosperity.  It  may 
be  so — there  is  every  reason  for  believing  it  is  so — with  us. 
Then  let  us  rather  praise  him  that  he  is  chastening  us  from  our 
evil  ways,  which,  if  followed,  would  lead  to  sure  destruction, 
than  grumble  and  complain  because,  for  our  good,  he  is  some- 
what disturbing  our  carnal  ease  and  enjoyment. 

(4.)  And  lastly,  and  above  all,  let  not  the  inconveniencies  of 
our  situation  blind  our  eyes  to  the  vast  preponderance  of  mercy 
and  goodness  still  apparent  in  all  his  dealings  with  us. 

Brethren,  God  has  blessed  us  ;  he  is  still  blessing  us,  even  in 
the  carrying  forward  of  this  dreadful  war.  He  has  given  us 
greater  success  than,  under  the  circumstances,  we  could  reason- 
ably expect  or  even  hope  for.  Look  at  this,  for  a  moment. 
Where  did  we  stand  two  years  ago,  and  Avhere  do  we  stand 


16 


now  ?  Then  we  could  not  properly  be  said  to  stand  at  all ;  we 
were  prostrate  in  the  dust ;  to-day  we  are  upon  our  feet.  Then 
our  hands  were  tied  fast ;  now  are  they  free,  and  doing  good 
execution,  too,  against  our  foes.  Then  our  treasury  was  empty  ; 
Floyd  had  just  stolen  the  last  six  millions,  and  fled  to  his  own 
kind.  Oar  forts  were  all  dismantled  or  occupied  by  armed 
rebels ;  our  arsenals  were  empty,  their  former  contents  in  the 
hands  of  our  enemies  ;  our  army  had  been  carefully  sent  away 
to  the  extreme  frontier  of  Texas — its  officers,  for  the  greater 
part,  were  in  the  ranks  of  traitors;  our  fleet  of  two  thousand 
four  hundred  and  fifteen  guns,  was  scattered  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  only  two  vessels  being  left  on  our  coast,  one  of  which, 
carrying  twenty-five  guns,  could  enter  Charleston  harbor  only  at 
flood-tide,  while  the  other,  carrying  two  guns,  was  of  little  use  ; 
our  President's  life  was  in  danger  from  the  assassin's  knife  ;  our 
national  capital,  cut  off  from  communication  with  the  loyal 
States,  was  in  most  imminent  peril,  and  was,  moreover,  full  of 
treason:  —  in  a  word,  we  were  helpless. 

But  out  of  that  strait  God  delivered  us.  In  a  single  day,  he 
roused  from  their  lethargy  the  whole  loyal  North,  and  made  the 
hearts  of  all  to  throb  with  newly  awakened  patriotism,  and 
their  souls  to  glow  with  indignation,  as  the  heart  and  soul  of 
one  man;  and  now  where,  by  his  good  providence,  do  we 
stand  ?  We  have  a  vast  army ;  we  have  a  navy  such  as  no 
other  nation  has,  or  ever  had  ;  we  have  all  the  money  Govern- 
ment can  use,  and  a  full  supply  of  all  the  material  of  war.  We 
hem  in  our  enemies  upon  their  own  territory,  under  a  blockade, 
by  sea  and  land,  more  strict  than  any  other  people,  having  so 
large  a  territory,  were  ever  under.  We  hold  the  whole  line  of 
the  Potomac  ;  almost  all  the  Mississippi.  We  have  all  the 
border  States — large  districts  of  the  seceded  ones.  We  have 
New  Orleans,  Newbern,  Port  Royal,  Fort  Pulaski,  Norfolk, 
Yorktown  —  cities  and  ports  too  numerous  to  mention — all  of 
which  have  been  reclaimed  from  rebel  possession  by  conquest. 

Two  years  ago,  our.  enemies  were  boastingly  talking  about 
making  their  next  winter  quarters  in  Philadelphia ;  and,  by 
this  time,  displaying  the  emblem  of  treason  from  Bunker  Hill 
and  Faneuil  Hall.  Instead  of  which,  they  have  but  once  set 
foot  on  loyal  soil,  and  that  for  but  a  few  hours,  and  at  the  im- 
minent risk  of  the  entire  invading  army.    Foreign  intervention, 


17 


so  gravely  feared,  so  constantly  prognosticated,  so  often  threat- 
ened, has  been  averted. 

To-day,  we  stand  resolute,  determined,  strong  in  all  the 
materials  of  war  ;  om'  commerce  scarcely  disturbed,  our  national 
credit  unimpaired,  all  branches  of  industry  prosperous,  and  with 
fair  plenty  smiling  on  all  our  States.  While,  on  the  other  hand, 
our  enemies,  having  by  no  means  held  their  own,  ill-supplied 
with  the  munitions  of  war,  all  their  available  resources  drawn 
upon  to  the  utmost,  stand,  looking  grim,  gaunt  famine  in  the 
face,  with  the  clamors  of  women  and  children  for  bread  ringing 
in  their  ears,  and  sending  anguish  and  dismay  to  their  hearts. 
Hath  not  God  wrought  this  ?  And  is  he  not  deserving  of  some- 
thing better  than  "  grumblings,  complaints,"  and  the  growlings 
of  "sullen  discontent"  from  our  hearts  and  lips  ? 

True,  we  have  had  mistakes  ;  there  have  been  delays,  re- 
verses, defeats ;  there  always  are.  But  is  it  not  also  true  that 
God  has,  in  our  case,  averted  the  usual  consequences  of 
these,  and  through  all  our  delays,  failures  and  blunders,  steadily 
advanced  our  cause  ? 

We  have  had  mistakes,  many  and  serious — we  have  com- 
mitted blunders,  frequent  and  grave — but  this  is  only  saying 
that  we  have  had  men,  and  not  angels,  to  manage  our  affairs. 
It  would  demand  more  than  human  skill  and  sagacity  to  avoid 
blunders  and  mistakes,  in  such  a  war  ;  it  is  unreasonable  to 
expect  that  men  so  unpracticed  in  war,  as  our  leaders  necessarily 
have  been,  should  not  make  mistakes. 

There  is  wickedness  and  corruption  in  the  management  of 
our  public  affairs  —  no  doubt  of  that.  But  so,  until  human 
nature  is  regenerated — that  is,  so  long  as  the  world  stands  and 
wars  are  waged,  will  there  be  knavery  and  corruption  in  such 
matters.  And  it  all  the  more  exalts  the  grace  of  God,  and  his 
unspeakable  goodness,  that  notwithstanding  these  things,  he 
saves  us  from  ruin  and  confusion,  and  still  advances  our  arms. 
This  gives  us  hope  that,  in  spite  of  the  inexperience  and  in- 
capacity of  officers,  in  spite  of  the  knavery  and  rapacity  of 
contractors,  God  will  carry  us  through,  to  a  happy  issue  out 
of  all  these  present  troubles. 

Let  us  not  be  despondent.  Such  a  war  as  this  cannot  be 
finished  in  a  day.  W^e  are  making  progress ;  search  the  his- 
tories of  great  wars  all  the  world  over,  and  you  will  not  find 


18 


one  where,  taking  all  things  into  account,  greater  progress  has 
been  made,  during  the  same  length  of  time,  than  we  have 
made  during  the  two  years  just  past. 

Let  us  not  be  despondent.  When  the  rebels  have  regained 
the  Mississippi  to  Cairo,  and  extended  thence  their  conquest  to 
the  extreme  upper  waters  of  that  great  river,  and  the  States 
west  of  it  are  cut  off  from  us  ;  when  our  fleet  is  blown  out 
of  the  western  waters,  or  worse,  is  in  rebel  hands,  and  the 
border  States  are  re-occupied  ;  when  our  iron-clads  have  passed 
from  us  over  to  the  rebels,  and  our  navy  sent  to  the  bottom 
of  the  ocean,  has  been  replaced  by  an  equal  navy  South  ;  when 
New  York  has  been  taken  and  held  for  a  year,  Boston  threat- 
ened as  Charleston  now  is.  New  Bedford  as  Savannah,  and 
New  London  and  New  Haven  are  in  rebel  hands  ;  when  the 
Hudson  is  in  their  possession,  except  perhaps  West  Point  and 
some  one  other  fortification  ;  when  all  our  young  men,  and 
all  our  mature  men  under  the  age  of  fifty,  are  drafted  into  the 
army — a  strict  blockade  maintained  over  our  states,  and  our 
medicines,  guns,  amunition  and  army  stores,  imported  from 
foreign  countries,  are  smuggled  in  through  Canada ;  when  gold 
sells  at  five  hundred  per  cent  premium,  and  while  our  armies 
subsist  on  half  rations,  our  starving  women  and  children  are 
rising  up  in  mobs  and  clamoring  for  bread;  —  then  may  we 
despond,  but  never  till  then  !  then,  but  never  till  then,  may  we 
conclude  that  God  is  on  the  side  of  the  rebels  in  this  war ! 

Neither  let  us  be  uu grateful  to  God  for  his  goodness  to  us. 
Turn  not  deserved  thanks  and  praises  into  murmurings  and 
complaints.  But  let  us  bear  patiently,  manfully,  whatever 
God,  in  moulding  the  destinies  of  this  nation,  sees  fit  to  lay 
upon  us.  Let  us  be  hopeful,  resolute,  self-poised.  Putting  our 
trust  in  the  God  of  battles — who  is  the  the  God  of  righteous- 
ness and  truth,  who  hates  oppression,  sedition  and  treason — let 
us  go  forward,  and  He  shall  establish  our  cause  in  righteousness. 
And  the  Lord  shall  utter  his  voice  before  his  army ;  for  his 
camp  is  very  great  :  for  he  is  strong  that  executeth  his  word. 
Let  us  rend  our  hearts  before  him  this  day,  and  turn  unto  the 
Lord  our  God  ;  for  he  is  gracious  aud  merciful,  slow  to  anger 
and  of  great  kindness,  and  repenteth  him  of  the  evil.  Who 
knoweth  if  he  v/ill  return  and  repent  and  leave  a  blessing 
behind  him  ? 


